Monday, May 26, 2008

Coke 600: Your TV Comments Are Welcome

We had a good live forum Sunday while the Coke 600 was in-progress, but some folks want to talk about the NASCAR on Fox telecast now that it is over. There is only one more Fox NASCAR race, and that is in Dover, DE next week.

If you would like to offer a TV-related comment on the Coke 600, or sum-up your feelings about how the NASCAR on Fox gang have done so far this season, you can do it right here.

Fox has presented all the points-paying Sprint Cup races since Daytona, and will now give way to Bill Weber and the TNT group. They will be on-the-air for six races before the big debut of Dale Jarrett and the ESPN crew. They will take the coverage of the final seventeen races down the stretch.

We have talked about the issue of only showing the winner finish the race, the antics of Chris Myers early in the season and the creation of Digger, the t-shirt selling track camera. While those may be irritations, it is important to remember that Mike Joy leads a veteran crew of on-air announcers who have worked very hard for a long time now to bring this sport back from a rather dark period.

Personalities like "old DW," Larry McReynolds and Jeff Hammond have become household names because they work on NASCAR TV programs on SPEED every race weekend. These guys are not here to show-up for one race and then head home. That is the difference between the Fox gang and the other TV networks. Viewers recognize their commitment.

What have you felt this season as you watched the NASCAR on Fox Sprint Cup races?

The Daly Planet welcomes comments from readers. Simply click on the COMMENTS button below and follow the easy directions. The rules for posting are on the right side of the main page. Thanks for letting us know your opinion.

I was amazed at the difference between indy and the 600. As much as I am not a fox fan they sure kicked butt. Granted there weren't as many story lines this year on the 500 but the tracker across the top at INDY took away so much from my HD screen it was horrible.

I was surprised that they didn't cover two issues in more depth: the Haas-CNC impounding (and the issue of "self-policing" by other competitors who want Haas's spots in the top 35) and the non-penalty on Dale Jr for "not endangering" anyone by speeding on pit road. That's a new excuse, even in the NASCAR looseleaf notebook of a rulebook. I know Dale Jr is the most popular driver and media criticize him at their risk, but when we could hear Dale Jr and Tony Jr on DirecTV saying "come down pit road and take the penalty--we gotta work on the car!" (so THEY thought they'd be penalized) and then see NASCAR say "Nah, it's not a penalty", well, there's a story there--and NASCAR's peculiar decision-making in this case should have been addressed in more depth.

A lot of people complain when commentators heap praises on a particular driver, and they can go overboard at times, but I personally don't have a problem with it as long as they deserve it.

With regards to Kyle Bush, how can anybody say that he doesn't deserve it? Other than Carl Edwards, who else has done anything close to what he has done this season? What would a commentator talk about if they didn't talk about him?

I'm not a fan of Kyle's, but I would rather they talk about him than drivers who do nothing more than make funny commercials, are the fan favorite, or pose for S.I. swimsuit edition.

With regards to Kyle Bush, how can anybody say that he doesn't deserve it? Other than Carl Edwards, who else has done anything close to what he has done this season?

Then why don't we hear anyone being honest about his performance? He's run over people below the line who were pitting, and he relies on other cars to hold him on the track when his car is so loose, he can't keep it under control.

Sure, he's won, but just as often he's wrecked people because he can't control his car. Why don't they talk about THAT?

I watched bits and pieces of the race throughout the day, and I thought there was something missing, though I couldn't put my finger on it. Then right at the end of the broadcast Myers said he kids because he cares. Of course, how could we forget...

JohnThe invitation is to share opinion on FOX performance this season.I'd say its been stagnant-at least from a fan perspective. They've gone over-the-top with self promotion, hype and self agrandizing, the subjects of which have brought nothing to the table interms of race coverage. The now "whipped dead horse" issue of how their director elects to not show cars finish, the lame, commercialized and plagerized "digger cam" ( the idea is NOT FOX's, and was developed years ago on ESPN SPEEDWORLD) and the abrogation of duty by their producer in allowing DW to be perceived as having an agenda is, in all, shamefull. Under its current management( I purposely did not the word leadership) Fox Sports will never rise to the vaunted level of respect earned by ABC or CBS Sports. They have no legacy, just an ongoing series of gimmicks and campaigns. Glowing pucks, automatron NFL graphics, Boogity, and so on. Nothing close to the stature of Wide World of Sports, no technical development or innovations, no sports journalism, no new frontiers of exposure. Just noise, screaming at us thru the tv, that drowns out any vestage of thought, opinion or true emotion.Think about it, as close as FOX can come to "Do you believe in miracles" is what?......."he done come up through the pack"?.I respect Mike Joy and his work. DW should be GREAT, and he's just GOOD, because he's not produced-and you can see his current self-doubt on his face in the booth.FOX has all the ingredients necessary to make stellar sports tv, but because they choose to shine the light on themselves rather than the sport and the the fan, they will always be a debutantorganization.I am so ready for TNT and ESPN.

As to DW: I can still remember his interviews before the Daytona 500, sitting informally in a lawn chair, with the Greats. Memories and personal stories are what made those wonderful moments for TV. Poignant, fascinating stuff. Love him or hate him, he's who he is, and he doesn't try to wear skin that's not his own.

The thing that's going to most bug me about TNT is how they'll approach that race at Pocono as if it's the first race of the year (not just TNT's first race, but the first race of the season). As if people haven't been able to see the first 13 races of the season.

As to Fox, they're doing a pretty good job. What I believe has been really beneficial to them is not only the continuity of working together for 8 years, but also by not having to do the Nationwide races, which prevents them from becoming overworked and drained, but yet doing enough practice and qualifying shows to allow them to mesh when it comes time to doing the Cup races.

I think DW's overwhelming support for Kyle Busch this year just doesn't fit the role he has on TV (DW). Considering I can't remember once last year he was in support of anything Kyle did last year, now this year he can't do any wrong. With the exception of running in to Jr.. That must have been a major conflict for DW to handle, on one hand his poster boy for the last few years, on the other his new flavor of the month.

Over all this year I've gotten about what I expected from Fox. More 'gimmicks', more hype, with the emphasis being more often on the 'storylines' and cutsie cameras than what is happening on the track. There are exceptions. When DW can stop being a cheerleader, he does well. Mike Joy is the consummate professional. When Larry and Jeff stay with the role of being part of the race, they do great work. After all these years, Fox still hasn't figured out that what fans watching on TV want to see is what's happening on the track...not highlights, not pre taped stories, and probably not the leader running all by himslef way out front. If they everl earn to find the 'drama' on the race track instead of 'pre cooking' it, we all might be happier.

In general I am happy with Fox's coverage, they are not perfect by any means. The end of the races has improved which has gone a long way toward this happiness. I don't mind that DW has favorite drivers because he does not root against anyone which is something we have seen with other commentators. The DW store thing is starting to bug me but I have no problem with them liking Digger since the hype has lessened somewhat. I'm going to Dover and I'll let posters know the Digger count. Chris Meyers is fine as long as he leaves the "clown" at the door, this week seemed better. I love Larry Mac and I wish Mike Joy called every race. I would like to see Krista have a larger role but I would hate to lose her in the pits. Fox has the best pit reporters going.

Couple of comments on the comments:• Seems to me there is more than one person missing form the photo. No C. Myers for one. And, what about some of the other pit road personalities.

• If you got tired of "it should be interesting to see...", wait till Bill Weber starts laying his "we'll see how this all plays out" on you a gazillion times each broadcast. It seems to me that I heard that phrase multiple times inside of five or ten minutes many times throughout the race. I didn't care to distract myself from the race in order to actually count them, but I sure noticed it. A lot!

Acknowledgment: I dislike Weber so much that I tend to not like almost anything he says, or does. I am not an objective observer!

Also, like someone else on here posted, it seems more and more that DW just likes to bring attention to himself and hear himself talk. Even during practice and qualifying, he'll drone on and on about something from his past instead of focusing on the driver, or drivers, on the track.

I seriously wonder if he isn't getting dementia or has a health issue because he's said some really bizarre things this season. He's quick to blame other drivers, too, whenever there is a mishap on the track instead of waiting for the replay and then determining what happened. This is especially true of it's one of his Golden Boys who is 'wronged' during a race.

All I know is that the other networks have a huge chance to outdo Fox, (shouldn't be too hard to accomplish) and really shine. We shall see how they do.

NASCAR on FOX should drop "Digger" as its mascot and adopt a treadmill, because it is running in place.

There have been some small improvements, including an updated ticker, the emergence of Krista Voda, and the new corner camera. But the general climate is still there: hype, questionable announcing, and the inability to react properly when the race does not fit the predetermined storyline. FOX must believe, literally, the famous saying, "Racin' is rasslin, rasslin' is racin!"

DW is clearly living vicariously through Kyle Busch. That Kyle now drives a Toyota - for which DW is a cheerleader and his brother a team owner - makes it easier for him.

OK so I was there at the race and this is not directly TV related but maybe it is. It's always fun to listen to the TV on the scanner the commercial breaks are always the best when the guys have to eat whatever they can and still talk among themselves but DW was nauseating about Kyle Busch - yuck I kept hoping they would switch to Myers and that is DESPERATE!!!

Since Speed didn't think it was that important to show the race live, I don't think that it is that important to watch the race as it is broadcast on SPEED. I have the DVR running and I will watch it later and ff the commercials. I will enjoy the plethora of other programming choices available to me this evening.